Katana wielding

[barsoomcore]

Well, you might make a case of "Make 'Em Laugh" being a scene in which Donald O'Connor fights the depression that has taken over his friend.

And I just have to point that I had nothing to do with taking a thread about katana (one of my favourite... obsessions) and turning it into a thread about Singin' In The Rain (another obsession). It's not my fault.

 

[Desdichado]

Yeah, and I was just thinking that Gene Kelley is pretty convincing as a stunt man as well. He's visceral, baby!

Ironically, barsoomcore, this is not one of our shared obsessions -- I prefer European, "classical" fencing ala Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power to Japanese swordplay.

 

[barsoomcore]

Well, I have a lot of obsessions. Swordfights in general are one of them. Katanas (the objects and their usage, as opposed to fight scenes with them) are another. And Singin' In The Rain is another still.

Then there's Maggie Cheung. Sigh.

 

[ph0rk]

Just wanted to say that I thought that the ending sequence of the film was excellent - the fact that they had built up the other guy so much, and that we had seen a "fight to a standstill" in the practice session, yet when the chips were down it was all over so quickly... A welcome change from the regrettable standard fare where the good guy has to get beaten to a pulp and then makes an unbelievable recovery and comeback (spider man vs green goblin, indiana jones once per movie, Syl Stallone too frequently for words etc).

I still think I'd have liked the movie better if preston would have bought it in the end. (with the revolution they didn't really need him anyway)

That and I had a hard time swallowing the entire premise. Sometimes even my imagination refuses to play along with something that absurd

 

[jerichothebard]

Yeah, the end fight in TPM is one of my favourite fight scenes of all time, and it's a perfect representation of why you need GOOD ACTORS to produce great fight scenes... And in that final fight in TPM, Ewan MacGregor and Liam Neeson give us so much in their performances, and Ray Park's skills are so strong that the whole thing is really a great, great sequence. After Qui-Gong dies, the reaction of Obi-Wan is goose-bump-causing. And it's that reaction that makes that final confrontation so powerful.

I've watched TPM many times just for that sequence. That, and the moment when Darth Maul ignites the second end of his lightsaber. I love that moment.

My favorite moment in that scene is when Qui-gon and Maul are separated by the force field, and Darth maul is pacing like a caged tiger, with all that restless deadly energy and focus, and Qui-gon is in seiza with his lightsaber closed, meditating. You really get an incredible feel for who and what these characters are, right there. No words, just their own reactions to the situation.


And has anyone noticed that Lucas passed up a totally BEAUTIFUL opportunity to both explain why and how Obi-wan knows how to imprint his spirit on Luke in later years, AND keep Liam Neeson in the series for longer than one movie? HELLO?!?!?


/rant


jtb

 

[Trainz]

Either Nakayama-kai Koaikido or Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu Kobudo

Katori Shinto Ryu. That's it.

I even went twice to week-end training sessions with Yoshio Sugino. Name rings a bell ?

It's great stuff and I love it to bits, but every now and then I do long for something a little more straightforwardly deadly.

Yes. The slow and deliberate fencing maneuvers in EsB gives a visceral feel of mastery and perfection to the audience.

 

[takyris]

Whoah. I didn't realize I'd walked into such a Singin' in the Rain minefield.

I sincerely apologize for having misspoken. I was referring to visceral impact in the purely martial sense, implying that I no more believed Ben Affleck to be damaging opponents with his body than I believed Gene Kelly to be engaging in a duel to the death in his dance scenes. Please understand that I hold Singin' in the Rain in the highest respect, and would never attempt to impugn the emotional impact of the movie.

Although I'm more of a White Christmas kinda guy myself. Watch it every winter. Snow, Snow, Snow, SNOW!

 

[barsoomcore]

Trainz:

Of course. I trained under Sugino Sensei for three and a half years. You must be from the Montreal dojo -- who's the sensei there? I think I met him a few times at Sugino dojo. If you were there anytime between 1992 and 1996 we probably met there. I was the incredibly tall foreigner trying desperately to keep up with everyone else and not whack the ceiling with my bo.

EsB? Sorry, I'm completely blanking on that acronym.

 

[barsoomcore]

taky: you're forgiven. Go forth and sin no more.

 

[Trainz]

Trainz:

Of course. I trained under Sugino Sensei for three and a half years. You must be from the Montreal dojo -- who's the sensei there? I think I met him a few times at Sugino dojo. If you were there anytime between 1992 and 1996 we probably met there. I was the incredibly tall foreigner trying desperately to keep up with everyone else and not whack the ceiling with my bo.

Small world. But we never met:

That Montreal Dojo (second floor above a car dealership, corner of the subway station) was indeed where I did those week-ends, but my dojo was outside of town (45 minute car ride). I was studying Kobudo between 1986 and 1988, so we missed each other by 4 years. The sensei's name was Raymond Demblant. My sensei was Jacques Lamade. These two guys came from France, where they studied Judo WAY back when. They were very good friends. They came to Montreal decades ago to open their respective schools.

Did you know that where the Montreal dojo was, now is a leather clothing store called "Cuir Dimitri" ?

Damn shame... damn shame...

EsB? Sorry, I'm completely blanking on that acronym.

Empire Strikes Back.